Friday, July 25, 2008        Edition: #3822
Bully For You!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
“Dark Knight” star Christian Bale’s much talked-about temper is in the news again after he reportedly pitched a fit on the New Mexico set of “Terminator: Salvation” when a camera shot went awry and his expletive-laden hysterics were witnessed by several hundred spectators (moviemaking mishaps are enough to make you wanna slap your mom) . . . “Forbes” magazine’s new ranking of top-earning actors is topped by Will Smith ($80 million in the past year), Johnny Depp ($72 million), and Eddie Murphy/Mike Myers (tied at $55 million apiece) . . . The Canadian-produced hostage drama TV series “Flashpoint” is doing so well in US ratings that CBS-TV is moving it to Thursdays (just like CTV, which also reruns episodes Sundays) . . . “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria Parker’s Los Angeles restaurant ‘Beso’ is such a hit, she’s looking to open a 2nd branch in Las Vegas (planning ahead for when her show’s cancelled – about mid-season THIS FALL) . . . Movie actor Ethan Hawke is a new pop to a baby girl named Clementine via wife Ryan Shawhughes, the former nanny he cheated with while married to Uma Thurman (now the newlyweds are gonna need a nanny – oh oh!) . . . Actress Sienna Miller is suing 2 British tabloids & a photo agency for releasing a series of topless pics of her frolicking with married “Brothers & Sisters” actor Balthazar Getty (she’s denying the photos are her – it’s just they didn’t shoot from her good side) . . . And “Transformers” actress Megan Fox claims she hates being named “FHM” magazine’s ‘Sexiest Woman In the World’, insisting the flattering title simply annoys her (apparently now she’s trying for ‘Biggest Liar in the World’).

WEEKEND SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “American Idols Live” – SATURDAY winner David Cook & the other 7th season finalists entertain at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
• “eTalk Presents: Coldplay At the BBC” (CTV) – SATURDAY the band performs material from their new album and some old classics in this hour-long special from BBC Television Centre in London.
• “Good Morning America (ABC) – THIS MORNING Feist (“1234”) performs.
• “Last Call With Carson Daly (NBC) – TONIGHT Gavin DeGraw (“In Love With a Girl”) is a guest.
• Maroon 5/Counting Crows – TONIGHT they kick off an extensive Summer/Fall tour in Virginia Beach VA. Sara Bareilles (“Love Song”) is the opening act on the first leg. The tour’s going green via biodiesel trucks, carbon offsets, and carpool groups for concert-goers.
• “New England Country Music Festival” – SATURDAY Kenny Chesney headlines at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough MA. He’s joined by Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, and Gary Allan.
• “Saturday Night Live” (NBC/Global) – Arcade Fire is the musical guest on a rerun show hosted by Rainn Wilson (“The Office”).
• “Today Show”(NBC) – THIS MORNING Miley Cyrus performs live at Rockefeller Center in NYC.
• “Tonight Show With Jay Leno (NBC/A Channel) – TONIGHT “Bleeding Love” songwriter Jesse McCartney is onstage to perform “Leavin’”.

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Beach Boys – A rep for 66-year-old former frontman Brian Wilson says he’s prepared to offer full refunds to NYC concert-goers due to complaints about ‘seating arrangements, the band, and his choice of songs’. (BS translation: He sucked bigtime.)
• Chris Brown – He’ll give wannabe dancers a chance to strut their stuff in a currently untitled upcoming reality TV show. The Mark Burnett production will focus on hip-hop and street dance.
• 50 Cent – He’s suing Taco Bell, claiming the fast-food chain is using his name without permission in ads that suggest he change his name to ‘79 Cent, 89 Cent, or 99 Cent’. He’s seeking damages to the tune of 400 million cents ($4 million).
• Jessica Simpson – Her foray into country music isn’t going the best so she’s already looking elsewhere by planning her own line of women’s dresses, expected to debut in 2009.
• Katy Perry – The “I Kissed a Girl” hitmaker claims she wants to recreate the infamous Madonna-Britney Spears “MTV Video Music Awards” smooch by planting a kiss on Miley Cyrus at NEXT MONTH’s “Teen Choice Awards”. (We’re talkin’ jailbait, girl! The audience we mean.)
• Mindy McCready – The oft-troubled country singer is back in rehab after being persuaded by TV host Dr Phil to seek treatment for her addictions. The move follows an apparent suicide attempt after a miscarriage. (What’s more embarrassing – going to rehab or taking advice from Dr Phil?)

TODAY’S MOVIE OPENINGS:
• “Step Brothers” ( R-Rated Comedy ): A send-up of the tensions that develop in melded families with Will Ferrell (“Semi-Pro”) & John C Reilly (“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”) playing extremely spoiled adults who get caught up in sibling rivalry after their respective single parents get hitched. After his last film tanked, it could be make it or break it time for Ferrell.
NET: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/stepbrothers/index.html
• “The X-Files: I Want to Believe” ( PG-13 Sci-Fi ): David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson reprise their roles from the original film and TV series. The new storyline takes the complicated relationship between ‘Fox Mulder’ and ‘Dana Scully’ in unexpected directions. It’s a stand-alone film made as an experiment to see if a one-off model could be used for additional episodes down the road. Billy Connolly co-stars. Shot entirely in Vancouver and area.
NET: http://xfiles.com/

BS LAW & DISORDER:
• A convicted murderer imprisoned at the Waller County Jail in Hempstead, Texas has escaped after using his prison time to … slim down. The hunt is now on for the 6-foot-tall, 160-lb man who lost so much weight he was able to slide through the joint’s air conditioning system to freedom. The AC vent is less than a foot-wide. (In a related case, the prison kitchen seems to be missing about 87 pounds of bacon fat.)
• A wacko in Russia has been sentenced to 11 years of hard labor after scamming money from grieving families by claiming he could … resurrect their dead. In one case a woman paid over $5,000 to have him bring back her 2 deceased sons. Despite the verdict, supporters of the fraud artist continue to claim he has special healing powers and is being unfairly persecuted. (Ah … apparently it’s a franchise.)
• A 38-year-old man is in jail in Antioch, California charged with … mayhem. He allegedly bit off his brother-in-law’s eyebrow, spat it out, then started laughing. Fortunately a quick-thinking cop picked up the severed flap of flesh and hair off the road and preserved it on ice. A plastic surgeon was later able to reattach it using 70 stitches. (Uh, not to be critical, pal … but isn’t that a dead squirrel over your left eye?)

TOP DOGS:
A new survey of Veterinary Pet Insurance’s 300,000-plus policyholders reveals the following are the most common names currently given to dogs …
FEMALE:
5. Sadie
4. Lucy
3. Daisy
2. Maggie
1. Molly
MALE:
5. Bailey
4. Rocky
3. Jake
2. Buddy
1. Max
– “Seattle Post-Intelligencer”

SELLING OUT:
Product placements, long familiar in movies and on TV game shows and sitcoms, have now moved onto the set of … local TV news. Two cups of McDonald’s iced coffee now sit on the anchors’ desk at KVVU Fox 5 TV News in Las Vegas, Nevada. They’re actually made-to-scale replicas, weighing circa 7 lbs each. The station’s News Director says the props receive absolutely no mention during the nightly newscast and represent only a ‘nontraditional revenue source’ for the station. The consumer advocacy group Media Access Project says expanding product placements into news shows raises troubling ethical questions. (“Today’s house fire story is brought to you by …”)
– “NY Times”

HOW TO CUT COSTS:
Often cutting back on small things can make a big difference in overall expenditure. Suggested tips that, over a year, could save you at least $5,000 …
• Cut your daily shower from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.
• Reduce your home’s water-heater setting by 10 degrees.
• Brew your own coffee instead of buying takeout.
• Prepare your own lunch instead of eating out.
• Hit the watercooler at work instead of buying bottled water.
• Carpool or work from home one day a week.
• Cut your lawn yourself and polish your nails at home instead of getting a manicure.
• Rent movies instead of going to the cinema.
• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs to save on electricity.
– “Wall Street Journal”

LOUDER, FASTER, DRUNKER:
New research out of France has discovered that louder music makes people drink faster. This follows up on previous research which discovered that faster music also makes people drink faster, and that people drink much more in bars with music than in bars without. (Maybe they’re drinking faster because the music’s too loud and they want to leave ASAP?)
– TimesOnline.com

DID YOU KNOW?
Performance-enhancing substances in sports are nothing new. In ancient Egypt, athletes consumed the rear hoof of an ass, ground up and boiled in oil. In the late 19th century, performance drugs were still legal and cyclists would have cocaine flakes dropped on their tongues. (A lot of coaches say partaking in ass the night before can hamper your performance.)
– “The Telegraph”

BS CHRONOMETER 07.25.08
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1955 [53] Iman (Abdulmajid), Mogadishu, Somalia, fashion model/sometime actress/Mrs David Bowie since 1992

1967 [41] Matt LeBlanc, Newton MA, TV sitcom actor (“Joey” 2004-06, “Friends” 1994-2004)  FACTOID: A hearing is set for AUGUST 13th over allegations he owes his former business manager over $1 million in commission. LeBlanc’s requested that a judge order her to undergo a mental evaluation.

1971 [37] Miriam Shor, Minneapolis MN, TV actress (‘Janet Thompson’ on “Swingtown”)

1985 [23] James Lafferty, Hemet CA, TV actor (‘Nathan Scott‘ on “One Tree Hill” since 2003)

1988 [20] Heather Marks, Calgary AB, fashion model (D&G, Calvin Klein, Moschino)/”Vogue” cover model/”Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” (2006)

SATURDAY –
Classic rocker Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones) is 65; Movie actress Helen Mirren (“The Queen”) is 63; Classic rock drummer Roger Taylor (Queen) is 59; Movie actor Kevin Spacey (“21”) is 49; Movie actress Sandra Bullock (“Miss Congeniality”) is 44; TV actor Jeremy Piven (“Entourage”) is 43; Movie actress Kate Beckinsale (“Click”) is 35; Rock drummer Dan Konopka (OK Go) is 34; Rock guitarist Dave Baksh (Sum 41) is 28; TV actress Miriam MacDonald (“Degrassi: The Next Generation” is 21.

SUNDAY –
Long-eared rodent actor Bugs Bunny (“A Wild Hare”) is 68; TV actor Julian McMahon (“Nip/Tuck”) is 40; NY Yankee star Alex Rodriguez (‘A-Rod’) is 33.

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Act Like a Caveman Day”, a day to tune in to your wild and primal instincts. Pass me a thigh bone, would ya?
• “Collingwood Elvis Festival” through Sunday in Collingwood ON includes street dances, an Elvis parade & swap sessions. More than 60,000 fans are expected, many dressed like ‘The King’. It culminates with the ‘World’s Largest Elvis Tribute Artist Competition’.
PHONER: 705.444.0123 / 416.907.0879 (Media Office)
NET: http://www.collingwoodelvisfestival.com
• “Gilroy Garlic Festival”, the 30th annual through Sunday in Gilroy CA, highlighted by the ‘Miss Gilroy Garlic Pageant’. What … they check for breath?
NET: http://www.gilroygarlicfestival.com/
• “Great Texas Mosquito Festival” through Saturday in Clute TX, home of the world’s largest mosquito, ‘Willie Man Chew’. Participants put on their bug repellent and celebrate with the ‘Mr & Mrs Mosquito Legs Contest’ and a ‘Mosquito-Calling Contest’.
NET: http://www.mosquitofestival.com
• “Hot Fudge Sundae Day” because … well, why not?
• “Just For Laughs Toronto” through Sunday, a 5-night spinoff of the 26-year Montréal comedy festival that includes galas hosted by Martin Short, Jason Alexander, and Jimmy Fallon.
NET: http://www.hahaha.com/toronto/

SATURDAY –
• “All or Nothing Day”. This is it, folks – balls to the wall, give ‘er all you’ve got, the time has arrived, take no prisoners, it’s now or never, bring your ‘A’ game and give 110% … and any other hackneyed self-help cliché you can think of.
• “Aunt & Uncle Day”, honoring the special contributions they make to our lives (or maybe Hallmark has just run out of ideas?).
• “Day of St Anne”, honoring the patron saint of homemakers and miners. She’s also one of the patron saints of Canada so if you combine all of those, you should celebrate by cleaning the maple syrup out of your nose.
• “National Sleepy Head Day” in Finland. Aw, you gotta love the Finns.

SUNDAY –
• “Baseball Hall of Fame 2008 Induction” in Cooperstown NY. THIS YEAR’s honorees include pitcher Rich ‘Goose’ Gossage, best known for his first tour with the NY Yankees (1978-83), and Dick Williams, a manager for 21 seasons with 6 different teams.
NET: http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/
• “Parents’ Day”, celebrated annually on the 4th SUNDAY of JULY to salute parents whose devotion strengthens society and forms the foundation for a bright future’. Is there a kid anywhere who’ll actually claim to have parents like this?
• “Take Your Houseplants For a Walk Day”, to help them get to know their real environment.

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1990 [18] Before a ball game, Roseanne Barr sings an off-key rendition of the national anthem to a booing crowd at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego CA, then scratches herself and spits

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2001 [07] Mariah Carey cancels upcoming engagements and checks herself into a Connecticut psychiatric hospital suffering from an ‘emotional & physical breakdown’

TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1871 [137] ‘Perforated Bathroom Tissue’ is patented by Seth Wheeler of Albany NY

1871 [137] 1st ‘Merry-Go-Round’ is patented by William Schneider of Davenport IA

1923 [85] 1st ‘Home Movies’ shown (undoubtedly to an excruciatingly bored audience)

1978 [30] 1st baby conceived outside a mother’s body using the new technique of ‘in-vitro fertilization’ (Louise Joy Brown of Oldham, England becomes the world’s 1st ‘test tube baby’)

1990 [18] Lucien Bouchard announces the formation of a new federal political party, the Bloc Québécois

COMING UP . . .
[Mon] Accountants Day
[Mon] Drive-Thru Day
[Tues] Lasagna Day
[Wed] Cheesecake Day
[Thurs] Mutts Day
This Week Is . . . Equal Parents Week (we want the same rights as kids!)
This Month Is . . . Eye Exam Month (uh, that first one’s an ‘E’, isn’t it?)

BULL’S BITS
PHRASES I’D RATHER NOT BE USED AT MY FUNERAL:
• “autoerotic asphyxiation”
• “found by cadaver dogs”
• “hopped up on goofballs”
• “minutes from rescue”
• “prehensile tail”
– Thanks to Harry Burt.

BS PHONE STARTER:
How do you know when it’s time to quit your job? (“GQ” magazine writer Cecil Donahue suggests the ‘dentist test’. When going to the dentist feels like a vacation from your job, you’re done.)

BS TOP SWAPS:
The week’s most requested music files online …
5. Usher – “Love In This Club”
4. Chris Brown – “Forever”
3. David Banner – “Get Like Me”
2. Jordin Sparks f/Chris Brown – “No Air”
1. Rihanna – “Take a Bow”
– Big Champagne online music measurement.

BS RANDOM JOKE:
The brain is a wonderful organ … it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and doesn’t stop until you get to work.

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: 50% more men have gotten THIS done so far this year compared to the same period last year.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: Botox.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Wasting time is an important part of living.